A/N: So you guys reaaally didn't like how I ended the last chapter, and so congrats! Your reviews actually got this out early, without any beta-ing whatsoever! Yay! I have been peer-pressured ;^; Plus, I figured before I went off for a mini-vacation, I'd get this posted, and put an end to the first half of the story - another yay for milestones!
Now, when I first started this story, I hadn't even known the practical part of the exam, or exams in general, existed as a proper, detailed arc. I had always known I would incorporate exams into this, seeing as you can't do highschool without 'em, but to see Horikoshi not only include tests, but developed these two little ones while doing so? It was a curve ball to say the least. Still, I managed the best I could. (In the end, all that matters is that you peeps like it :P)
I'm really nervous, since it's one of those chapters that Jil hasn't proof-read. I should probably wait until they're back from vacation, but I wanted to get this out before I went away as well (not that I'll be gone long enough to notice ;P Plus then exams will start... :'( (luckily, I have several chapters written out in advance, so it shouldn't affect the upload schedule too much).
So you guys gotta lemme know how it was (as you always do, you beautiful people)
The Seventh Fault
"Oww."
A sharp breath blew past her ear, and she suppressed a shudder.
"Sorry. Just- yeah like- just move over…"
Her foot lost its grip, coming down hard.
"Ow. That's my foot."
"Ugh, goddammit all-"
"Maybe if you'd just-"
An elbow to her stomach.
"Oof!"
"Sorry."
They stopped moving entirely for a second.
"….Well, this is awkward."
"Agreed."
-5 hours earlier-
The bus ride back from the practical exam to U.A was just as awkward and silent as it had been on their way there.
After the announcement of their team having finished first had echoed through some unidentifiable megaphone, a giant load had lifted, leaving the two candidates feeling lighter, relieved and rather at a loss of what to do. Todoroki seemed to still have a surplus of adrenaline running through his veins, and he hadn't once sat down or stopped pacing since the exam had ended.
Momo however, felt exhausted.
Unlike his usual aware and analytical self, Todoroki had come up to her several times, unable to read the clear signals she was giving to stay away. He kept talking rather uncharacteristically about something or other as well ('I think Aizawa went easy on us' 'I can't believe that worked. That was rather ingenious...' 'If you're hungry, there's a store just there' 'What do we do with all these created items? Can't you just un-create them?').
It had become so grating that in the end, Aizawa sent him away, to go melt the giant wave of ice he'd created. She had flashed her teacher a rather relieved look after that.
Her tears hadn't lasted too long, stopping almost as soon as she wiped the first of the dampness away; Momo had never been one to like showing weakness in front of others, since it only solidified any pre-judgements people tended to form when they first saw her. The only times she let her breakdown were in the private sanctuary of her room.
Although she'd stopped the tears rather soon, her face remained flushed, covered by an expression of deep-seated awe and disbelief.
The last few days had been just short of a nightmare. In over the span of just under a week she had managed to distort her and Todoroki's rather pleasant relationship into something no longer recognizable. Pushing Todoroki aside had been a huge mistake, she now realized; he was someone she could have turned to for advice throughout this whole ordeal, being the rather reassuring presence he was. And shoving him away had in turn grated on his nerves, resulting in their first real fight, which left her feeling absolutely desolate.
On top of it all, like the proverbial cherry on top, her parents had started an enormous fight while Kyoka and Mina had been staying in her room.
Add to that the scarring event at the Todoroki household, and it had been quite a week.
All in all, Momo was not at her best when the morning of the practical arrived. Feeling less than confident was an understatement; so certain had she been that she would fail that just the thought of being the only person in their class having to take remakes had her emptying her stomach all night. Of course, she had eventually called Kyoka, who calmed her down enough for Momo to finally get some sleep.
The next day she found out that her practical partner would be Todoroki.
The awkwardness had been...palpable, to say the least. The two didn't say a word to each other. Todoroki himself looked irritatingly fresh and alert, which was the complete opposite of her sleep-deprived, meek-looking self. The whole situation had completely erased any hope of her passing this test. Being with the ice and fire prodigy meant comparison, and compared to him, any hopes she had of standing out were wiped clean.
In fact, until they boarded their different buses, Momo had stayed glued to Kyoka's side. But even Kyoka's continuous bashing and mocking on Todoroki didn't do much in raising her morale, knowing that no matter how badly her friend insulted him, it didn't change the reality that he was brilliant.
Still, the gesture was appreciated, and it was with a heavy heart that she parted from her friend.
"Just don't think too much alright?" Kyoka had told her, giving her a small tap on the back. "We'll talk about it long and hard after this shit is over."
Throughout the journey, Todoroki had remained standing, leaning against one of the support beams in the far corner, eyes glued to the passing scenery outside. Momo herself sat down, the silence suffocating, and the situation was only made worse by the idly curious glances from Aizawa sensei.
Things didn't get much better once the practical started. Though they were forced to focus due to the common goal of passing, the two of them were acting on completely different pages. It was like everything she knew about him had been reset, and for a hopeless, desolate moment, Momo felt like it just wouldn't work.
But something changed during the test, quite like how sometimes fists spoke louder than words; perhaps the rush of adrenaline and the threat of not passing had forced the two teens to acknowledge each other and listen. The relief of things seemingly fixing themselves, together with the realization that she had actually passed the test, potentially placing first, while running mostly on her judgements, left her weak in the knees.
By the end of it, there seemed to be an unspoken acceptance between her and Todoroki that everything that had happened would be put aside. All the frustration, and anger and stress was now gone and instead were replaced by the embarrassment at having cried (for less than five seconds), in front of both Todoroki and Aizawa.
Suddenly, all she wanted was to run into a hole and hide.
"Alright you two. You're free to your own devices. We'll next see you at the closing ceremony."
Aizawa had left them standing by the bus, having reached U.A. safely. And as the black-cladded figure disappeared around the corner, Momo became suddenly hyperaware of the reality that it was just her and Todoroki, alone, for the first time since all her problems had begun. And just as suddenly, she realized she really, really didn't want to be around him.
"Yaoy-"
"I just remembered!" Momo yelped, cutting Todoroki off before he could say anything. "I had to ask Aizawa sensei something!"
And without a second thought, the creation artist walked inside the school building as fast as she could get away with, while still appearing nonchalant.
"Aizawa sensei?"
Class 1A's homeroom teacher instantly slammed the drawer he'd been surreptitiously reaching into shut. If anyone discovered his secret compartment for his sleeping bag, life would get a lot more tedious.
"Yes, Yaoyorozu. Can I help you?"
"I just wanted to ask about classes. Are there really none between now and the closing ceremony?"
"That's what I've been told."
"Alright..." The girl trailed off, ending what he assumed to be her query. However, she didn't move, eyes instead darting from different points on the floor, twiddling her thumbs. If he didn't know better, he'd have assumed she was fishing for something else to say. Although why anyone would want to extend their time in the dreary interior of the teacher's lounge was beyond him. The only reason he was still there was because he was being paid to.
"...W...What about assignments? Do we have any for the summer?"
"They'll be discussed on the day of the closing ceremony."
"Ahh I see..." Again, the young teen trailed off and again, she didn't budge. "...Um, and when do you suppose the exam results will be out?"
Aizawa folded his arms. The girl was definitely up to something. He raised an eyebrow. "The closing ceremony."
Yaoyorozu let out a hollow chuckle. "R-Right, of course..."
"All of which I have already discussed in homeroom. As you should know, being vice president. Or were you not paying attention?"
"N-no! Certainly not the case, sensei, I assure you!" She was so easily flustered, it was a wonder she made it as far as she had. "I-I mean, I was paying attention, I was-"
"Yaoyorozu." His sharp tone successfully shut off her pointless ramblings.
"Y-yes!"
"I didn't go easy on you." He watched her go rigid, and he figured he'd hit the nail on the head. "I was chosen as an examiner because I know how to do my job, and I know when a student is worthy of passing a hero exam. By doubting whether or not you deserve to pass is doubting my judgement. And you wouldn't want to insult me like that, would you, Miss Yaoyorozu?"
She flushed with guilt. "No Sensei, definitely not…"
"Good. Now, you've had a hard day." She blinked at the suddenly much gentler tone. He offered a small smile. "You deserve some rest. Go on, and do everything teenagers supposedly get up to at your age."
His student responded to his rather mild grin with her own shy one. "Yes Aizawa-sensei." She turned to pull open the door.
"Oh, and Yaoyorozu," The dark haired girl paused just as she'd stepped into the hallway, looking at him. "Excellent work today."
The brilliant smile splitting her face was one of those rare times Aizawa felt truly happy to have become a teacher. She bowed, and closed the door behind her. The teacher let out a complacent sigh, bending back down to his drawer. He supposed it would be a good hour or so before all of the teachers came back, during which he could catch some much-anticipated sleep.
The door slammed open yet again, and this time, the pro-hero of over a decade wasn't able to hide his jump of surprise.
"Sensei." Yaoyorozu was back, the door now held shut behind her, looking rather ruffled for wear. Aizawa leaned back in his chair, surreptitiously sliding the drawer shut again, fixing his best student with a rather sullen look. "Would the teacher's lounge happen to have a back exit?"
"No."
Her eyes scanned the room, as if his word wasn't good enough. Aizawa didn't care either way, so long as she left at some point. Hopefully sooner rather than later.
"Aizawa-sensei...I'm going to use the windows to leave, if that's okay with you?"
There was a pause where he stared at her, and she looked right back, not a trace of humor shadowing her face. He should probably ask why. Surely she was in some sort of trouble, and as a teacher, it was his duty to help. As a hero, it was his duty to help.
A tag of his yellow sleeping bag was sticking out of the drawer.
"Sure, knock yourself out."
Without needing any further incentive, Yaoyorozu crossed the room. It occurred to him that telling a student to knock themselves out while jumping from the teacher's lounge window with only him in the vicinity probably wouldn't look too good on his record. Or on the security camera footage.
He paused.
Oh well. He would put his faith in her ability to not kill herself.
As Yaoyorozu began tampering with the window latch, Aizawa slid open the drawer again, finally pulling out his oh-so-soft sleeping bag, no longer caring who saw.
"Sensei."
Oh for Pete's sake.
"What is it, Todoroki?"
He had been with these students for an entire term now. Surely they realized how important sleep was, to the general public, and then to him. Sometimes, some things took precedent over others. And this time, his sleep took importance over these two rather baffling, tiresome kids.
"Is Yaoyorozu in here?"
Aizawa looked up at this, looking first at the newest arrival to the room, and then glanced over to where Yaoyorozu had last been. The window she had been tampering with was still closed, and Eraserhead's only deduction was that she had crouched in hiding behind the closest desks. Why she was hiding was beyond him, but he wasn't about to let all her effort of jumping out the window go to waste.
Besides, this way, peace would return faster, and as an upstanding, proficient hero, that was his duty.
"No."
Todoroki stared at him, and through the shared look, the teacher knew that the boy knew he was lying. With a small sigh, the young prodigy ran a hand through his hair, glancing at the tables Aizawa had looked at previously, and turned to leave.
Yes. He understood how precious sleep was.
"Alright. Thank you, Sensei." And with a small bow, he left. The boy had officially earned his respect.
As Aizawa continued setting up his bag, deciding to house it in the darkness of the photocopy room, Yaoyorozu popped back up, sliding open the pane of glass, and leapt out. Aizawa didn't bat an eye.
Teenagers.
"And then you jumped out of the window." Kyoka repeated slowly, as if talking to a small child.
"It was the first floor, I don't see the big deal," Momo said, chin in the air.
Kyoka let out a groan-like sigh. This was getting ridiculous.
It was during the glowing aftermath of the practical test, while still high on the euphoria that came with the end of exams, with everyone excited at the prospect of summer break, that they decided they needed some well-deserved, simple, good old fun.
They were currently at a public pool, the one Kyoka usually spent her afternoons on lifeguard duty at. Just for that day, she had managed to persuade her superiors to allow a 'U.A. day'. Pre-hero students from every year were there, taking advantage of a pool without being ogled or gawked at by the ordinary masses. Kyoka herself had received exceptional praise and popularity, although Momo knew her friend's persuasion tactics had probably involved something more along the lines of double-dealing and dishonesty, with a little blackmail thrown in the mix.
Not too hero-like.
The two girls were sat on stools inside a small umbrella-covered drinks bar (young-adult-friendly, of course). Most of the class was there, bar Midoriya and Bakugo. Uraraka had seemed rather reluctant, but she came anyway, for Iida, and for the sake of politeness, which was something Kyoka didn't understand; people should do what they wanted, regardless of what the world thought.
The perfect example of this was Todoroki.
Although he was at a pool, the boy had come fully dressed, as if on his way to the local grocery store. It made sense, considering the ice prince had done nothing all day but try and talk to Momo, clearly not interested in swimming in the slightest. Kyoka had at first found the whole situation utterly hilarious. Every time the half-n-half hero would come anywhere near her, her friend would come up with some sort of excuse, usually running inside the small recreation center attached to the pool's locker room.
When Momo finally ran out of excuses, her next strategy was to jump into the pool, swimming to the center, and feign deafness as he'd call out to her. By this point, Kyoka had her phone out to film the whole thing. Seeing Todoroki, with meticulously controlled anger flashing over his usually impassive face, was enough to have her in stitches. Momo could say what she liked; the boy had it bad. After a few more tries, Todoroki had quickly realized that none of it was working.
In a burst of anger, he proceeded to freeze half the pool.
It only went downhill from there. What could only be described as a miniature riot began, with seniors lashing out at the stubborn first year, who began to defrost the pool, grumbling to himself, barely listening as he sullenly watched Momo scamper away in the ruckus. That was when her friend had joined her, under the only shade surrounding the pool, and the punk-rock girl stopped the video, satisfied she had enough material for later use.
"I can't say I don't understand where you're coming from, with the whole not wanting to talk to him and all." Kyoka said, and Momo enthusiastically nodded, glad her friend was giving her support. "But honestly, just look at him. Even I have to admit, he's trying quite hard for a Todoroki, ya know?"
The creation hero let out a sigh. "I just…it isn't the same... I'm too... I wouldn't know what to say."
"From the looks of it, he wants to do most of the talking."
"It's just better if I keep my distance. I think it'd be better, for the both of us."
'Then why do you look so sad?' Kyoka thought, looking back as Todoroki melted what was left of the ice. After the seniors were satisfied with the temperature of the pool, they let him go, and Todoroki started making his way through the crowd instantly, already having spotted them, and the music-loving girl had to give him props for his tenacity. Her friend didn't notice, watching the dregs of pulp swirl at the bottom of her glass as she spun it in hypnotic circles.
Kyoka let out a long sigh as the ice user reached the table, bracing herself for what was bound to come.
"Yaoyorozu."
Momo instantly jumped, glass slipping from her hand. Kyoka let out a yelp as it gave one solid bounce without shattering (any damage would be deducted from her pay, after all. It was one of the reasons she was standing guard around the only area containing fragile objects. The fact that it offered the only shade was an added bonus) but Todoroki caught it before its fall had even a chance to begin.
Kyoka let out a sigh of relief.
"Yaoyorozu, just listen-"
"I have to go to the bathroom!"
Jiro's mind was still reeling from the potential broken glass and she wondered how her friend had not only moved past, but also come up with her next excuse. Todoroki, however, was having none of it.
"For the third time?" Was his unimpressed reply. Kyoka was still amazed at how many emotions one girl was managing to bring out of him.
"Yes." Momo had the audacity to glare at him, and, to the earjack heroine's utter chagrin, Momo then turned to her. "Kyoka wanted to go, right?" The pointed look she gave couldn't be missed from a mile away.
"No." Like hell Kyoka was getting caught up in whatever the heck this was.
"But you just said-"
"No."
"But I'm sure-"
"Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Fine!"
And with a huff, the vice president stomped away. Kyoka rolled her eyes, looking back at the boy in front of her, resting her chin lazily on her palm.
"This is ridiculous," he said to no one in particular. To her utter surprise, he was smiling lightly, still looking at the door their classmate had stormed through. Kyoka held in a gag (but allowed the eye-roll).
"You're telling me," she said snippily. "What did you do?"
He took a seat on the other side of the counter, fiddling with the glass he had just caught. "Nothing."
"That isn't a reaction someone has to 'nothing'."
"You asked what I did." His voice was low and heavy. "I did nothing."
Kyoka observed the boy thoughtfully. His blank, impassive look was back in place, and she realized it was just around Momo that the boy lost that control. He'd probably realized it too, on some level, and for someone like Todoroki, who took immense pride in such things, to lose such intricate discipline was probably quite terrifying. And on some level, Kyoka decided, she could understand him.
"What are you planning on telling her?" she asked, wondering if she wasn't pushing it.
He gave a scoff. "I have to get her to listen first."
Kyoka felt a smirk spread, as a scheme popped up before she could stop herself. It was what she did best, after all. And for this particular ploy, she'd need assistance.
"Oy! Sparky!"
Next to her, she heard Todoroki groan.
"What is it, Kyoka?"
They had reached a small room, full of cabinets, probably meant for storage. Momo looked inside, utterly nonplussed. "I don't see anything worth anything in here. Honestly-"
"Just shut up and come over here." Jiro had opened the door of a narrow closet. It was a strange thing, hardly more than a foot deep, and almost two feet wide, but being easily almost 6 feet tall, the whole thing looked rather impractical. But other than its dimensions, it still looked utterly unimportant, and Momo made that clear by turning to her friend and raising an all-expressive eyebrow.
Kyoka simply opened the door and motioned inside, expression coy. "There's going to be something inside only you can fix." She said, rather cryptically. Sighing, Momo shrugged, and stepped inside, examining the corners for faults, but just as she started, the door slammed shut ending with a suspicious click.
"W-w- Hold on- Kyoka?!" Momo tried shoving the door open, but it wouldn't budge. "Kyoka, open the door!"
"Oh man, it seems to be stuck!" her friend's voice sounded through the thin closet walls, but she sounded rather scripted, as well as seemingly unaffected by the turn of events. "Let me get some muscle."
"No, no no!" Momo yelled, hearing the door of the room open and close. "Don't you dare leave me here! Kyoka!" She was leaning over against the door, and the door seemed to give way, ever so slightly. She blinked, then leaned in harder, and then she felt it; the entire cabinet tilted forwards. In blind panic, the creation heroine realized the whole thing was falling over and instantly she slammed her entire weight against the back wall, just in time. The box rocked back into place.
The stupid contraption was rickety. Was that the problem Jiro had been talking about?
Perhaps.
Regardless, Momo was currently in no mood to be fixing anything. Her hand began to glow, creating a mallet. Who needed friends? She'd get herself out the old fashioned way. Raising the hammer, she readied herself to slam the door off its hinges when she heard a click, and then the creak of the door.
"Here, it happened just over there."
That was Kyoka's voice.
Before she was able to give her friend a piece of her mind, the closet door swung open, and Todoroki's head appeared. Momo had never before felt two starkly opposite emotions exist simultaneously in her mind; extreme relief, knowing she wouldn't be trapped in here forever, left to rot and decay; and the frantic urge to run. Relief won out in the end; independence be damned, being locked in a small space was not on her bucket list.
Todoroki gave her a look she realized she'd only ever seen him direct at her; the look which read 'why is it always you?' "How did you get yourself locked in here, Yaoyorozu?" he asked, and turned to give, in all likelihood Jiro behind him, a rather unimpressed look.
"Do you really want to be giving me lip while I'm holding a mallet?" she asked huffily as he looked back.
Before he had a chance to reply, he was suddenly shoved inside the already cramped space. His eyes flashed dangerously at the offending person, pierces of grey and icy blue - details she only saw because he was all too close to her, just before the door slammed shut and they were thrown into darkness.
"We'll be back in 30-40 minutes!" a voice that sounded suspiciously like Kaminari chirped loudly, just before a click – which she realized was a freaking lock – sounded again. Momo then heard the outside room's door snap shut as well, and the two of them were left in the quiet darkness.
"This is not what I had in mind," she heard Todoroki mutter.
Momo blinked, running down the situation in her head.
She was currently locked, in a storage closet, with Todoroki, courtesy of her 'friends' Jiro and Kaminari. Locked with Todoroki, in a cramped storage closet with hardly half a foot of moving space, while in her swimsuit. She had thrown on a thin top over her torso, which she was incredibly grateful for, but her long legs were bare. Momo was feeling hotter by the minute, and whether that was due to the body heat he was giving off or her own, she couldn't tell. What she did know was that she wasn't about to spend the next half hour or so trapped like a sardine in a glorified tin can.
Apparently, Todoroki was thinking along the same lines, giving a well-contained (pun not intended) growl and a violent kick to the door, the closet giving a dangerous wobble in response. Encouraged, he leaned back, readying himself to charge against the doors.
"No, don't! Todoroki, the closet's unstable, it'll-"
Too late.
Like clockwork, the closet tilted over, and in the chaos she lost her balance, and dropped her hammer in surprise, which landed with a thud onto her foot. She howled in pain. The closet fell over completely, her stomach pushing up uncomfortably against her diaphragm. The whole mass fell with a resonating thud, Momo landing on top of Todoroki, successfully knocking the air out of his lungs with an 'oof!'.
"Sorry," she said sincerely. "Just- yeah like- just move over…" She tried to get off of him, when she realized her feet had no real grip and she kicked down.
"Ow. That's my foot."
"Ugh goddammit it all,"
"Maybe if you'd just-" she slipped, landing somewhere between his legs. He inhaled sharply as she effectively kneed him, and reflexively, he elbowed her away, his clenched fist connecting with her face. She grunted, and in the action of trying to slap his arm away, lost her balance and fell face first into his armpit.
And that was how they reached their current situation, her lying on top on him of him like some low-budget blanket. Her arms lay sandwiched between their torsos, and her legs lay tangled with his. Momo had to crane her neck at an odd angle to avoid resting her face on his chest, unable to move her hands, having to rely purely on her rather weak neck muscles. Just thinking of where her head would go when her muscles inevitably grew tired caused the temperature inside the space to rise a few degrees.
Throughout this, Todoroki lay frozen still, arms and legs as far apart as he could possibly have them go, obviously attempting not to touch her, breathing laboriously, still winded. Each exhale shuddered heavily as he tried to mentally force the pain away.
"Well, this is awkward."
"Agreed." He sounded like someone was strangling him. There was a silence. Then, "I'm going to kill them." Todoroki growled.
"No, simply killing is too easy," Momo hissed. "They need to suffer."
"Freezing off their skin?" he asked.
"Plucking out their eyeballs."
"Have them walk on burning coal."
"Better yet, melt down this stupid closet and pour it over their heads."
"Freezing off their skin would probably be merciful after that," he admitted, and she chuckled, some of the tension ebbing away. There was a moment or two of silence, and then he spoke up again. "I could try burning a hole through."
"That wouldn't work, it's made of metal. We'd fry before you get anything done. What about you freeze the wall and we smash it open with the hammer?"
"My right hand is trapped…" he trailed off, and she realized she was basically using his arm as a pillow.
"Alright, hang on," she said. Tentatively, she leaned her arm to the other side of his torso, and shifted her weight – carefully – onto the leg currently resting between his. She moved as delicately as she could in the cramped space, off of his arm. "How about now?" she breathed out heavily.
He didn't reply, a huff being her only response, and she instantly realized why. His exhale had puffed a warm blast of breath over her face, and she realized they were basically nose to nose just then. She stopped breathing entirely, head shooting up so fast in an attempt to create some space between them she hit the back wall.
Doubling over in pain, she rolled back, suddenly grateful for the current darkness of the closet. Although, if they weren't in the closet to begin with, she wouldn't be in this mess.
"You okay?" he offered.
"Todoroki." Momo said impatiently urging him to hurry up. He moved his head to the side.
"Not yet."
"What," she blinked her eyes open. There was no way she had heard right. "Todoroki, I can't breathe."
His hand now free, he raised it to the roof above their heads, and the sound of crunching glass echoed in the confined space, a chilled draft of air cooling down the warmed interior. Then, without warning, Todoroki punched a hole straight through the metal, having weakened it with a coating of ice. So there was no need for a hammer then… Momo blinked against the sudden source of light, breathable oxygen now wafting through their little space.
"How about now?" He had to be joking. Though his tone somehow made her doubt that.
"Todoroki, it's cramped."
"Then listen to me, and we can leave." Her gaze moved back to his, and in the trickling brightness she could now make out his eyes, looking the same color in the dim lighting, staring collectedly back - she was so used to his mismatched gaze that it was like she was looking at someone else. His breath felt cool against her skin, and she dimly realized it was probably due to the after-effects of using his quirk. He probably took her silence as answer that she'd listen. "Why are you avoiding me?"
"Huh?" she blinked at the question.
"You're angry." It was a statement, as calmly presented as if he was demonstrating how weather changes occurred. "I understand that. But as far as I'm aware, your idea of anger is to lash out, not hide."
Momo was at a loss. "What?"
He was no longer looking at her, his eyes now absently focused somewhere off to her right, muttering to himself. Kind of reminding her of Midoriya, actually. "Not physically or destructively, but in a more ambiguous way. It took me a while, but I'm fairly confident in my ability to recognize it now." He had just confessed to understanding the way her mind worked in the most clandestine and aloof way possible, as if it were common sense. "But this is something else. Am I correct in thinking that you're angry?"
"Todoroki, I want to get out of here."
"So I'm right, then."
"No. I'm not mad. Now let me out."
"Well if it isn't anger, what is it?"
"Todoroki, I'm serious-"
"Maybe something more-"
"Let me out, Todoroki."
"Hatred as well perhaps?"
"No-"
"But at whom?"
"Todo-"
"Me?"
"I was embarrassed, okay?" she snapped out. He finally looked back at her, the whites of his eyes vivid in the darkness. His expression was so genuinely surprised just then, so normally, humanly surprised that she felt her throat clamp up, and suddenly, she was too near him, too vulnerable, and she just wanted to leave. "Now let me out."
There was a silence. "Embarrassed?"
Yeah, see, this was what she had been avoiding him. "I don't want to say it again, Todoroki,-"
"Why would you be embarrassed? Of what?"
"If you don't let me out, right now, I'll scream."
The ringing silence following that statement would have been utterly hilarious in any other situation were the both of them not currently engaged in an intense stare-down, equally stubborn and both intent of getting what they wanted. Todoroki narrowed his eyes. "You're bluffing."
"Are you willing to test that theory?"
"You'll just run away again." As if in response, Momo opened her mouth, inhaling sharply and deeply. "Alright! Enough," He finally snapped. Ignoring the satisfied smirk spreading across her face, he reached up, once again, and she watched his quirk at work, the frost coating over the top of the closet like some strange, beautiful fungus. "Hammer."
With a start, she realized that was directed at her. Her hand glowed, and she handed over the freshly created tool over to him (her earlier mallet was too far out of reach), but before he took it, Todoroki sent her a sharp look. "Do I have your word you'll stay?"
Momo didn't understand why it was so imperative that they discuss this, but if it meant not being pressed up against him… "Sure."
It was blatantly obvious by the look he gave her that he didn't believe her for a second. Still, he took the hammer from her with a yielding huff. No sooner had the final shard been hacked away than Momo immediately began wiggling out of the hole, like some sort of deformed insect from a cocoon. She took a second to adjust to being back in the open (sort of), blinking against the sudden blast of light, breathing in the non-chlorinated air, stumbling on numb legs, before making a beeline for the door.
Her hand was inches from the knob when a wave of ice crusted it over, cutting it off from her reach.
"Now you run from your promises, too?"
The room gave Todoroki's voice a light echo, a stark change from the intimate way his deep tenure had rumbled against her in the closet. It made him sound quite intimidating, and Momo followed the trail of ice back, knowing before she saw it that it would lead to where Todoroki's palm was pressed against the linoleum floor. He got up slowly, leaning heavily on his knees like someone five times his senior, as if his joints had been rusted over. That, however, didn't dull the burning energy in his sharp gaze as his eyes locked with her own. He didn't move, standing to his full height, choosing to just look at her.
For a while, they just stood there, under the artificial, fluorescent lights.
Momo felt the now familiar drop of her stomach again. It had been happening around Todoroki for a while now; the feeling of inferiority, that feeling that maybe she had been putting far more energy into … whatever this was; the realization that she must look so utterly pathetic in his eyes. And then, as if to prove all that, she had cried…
But it wasn't her fault, when Todoroki kept doing things like giving her the look he was giving her just then. A look like he wanted so badly to help, like the idea of not fixing things would do worse things than just ruin his mood for a day. When he showed that side of himself, she wanted to do the same. She wanted to care, and she wanted to give everything she had, just as she would with Jiro, or Ashido.
She wanted to be his friend.
Todoroki gave a small, extended sigh. He began walking towards the door, and then, to her confusion, began to melt the icy coating.
"I apologize," he said, sensing her surprise. "I should have realized I can't force you into doing anything you weren't comfortable with. It's just," he leaned into the door, pressing his palm against the wall of ice with more force than was probably necessary, sizzles of steam erupting wherever his skin touched.
"It's just… I asked my mother about it, and she thought it would be best to talk to you directly, on my way back home. She said there were probably a lot of misunderstandings that had arisen, and the only way to get past it was to talk it out." His grey eye flickered over to her for just a second before returning back to the task at hand, a rather vulnerable and wary expression on his face. "Of course, I'll be the first to admit that isn't my strongest suit, so I may have gone a bit …overboard."
Momo felt a smile tugging at her lips, despite herself, thinking back to the frozen pool. "Maybe just a little…" she agreed softly, and he let the corners of his lips flicker up for a moment.
This was what she meant. If it was truly only her contributing to their strange relationship, then why did he do things like get advice from his mother, or try seeking her out to smooth things over or search for the right words to explain himself? Surely he wouldn't look like he cared just as much if he didn't. Surely he wouldn't be wearing that expression on his face. No one was that good an actor.
The ice had melted away completely, the heat used on it so intense the ice had sublimated directly into vapor, and the only indication that the door had only moments before been a block of ice was the slightly darkened, damp wood.
"I'm sorry."
Momo felt her breath catch. Wait, he was apologizing? He turned to her, hands now buried in his pockets. He was looking straight at her. "I was childish, and immature, and petty." His chest swelled as he inhaled deeply, straightening to his full height as he did so, not once breaking eye contact. "And I'm sorry."
He kept on doing things like this.
Todoroki moved away from the door, indicating she could now leave, but that was currently the last thing on her mind. She was sure now; people who didn't care didn't apologize. His brother had been wrong.
"That's not fair," she whispered, staring at the floor.
"What isn't?"
"You apologizing… when it should be me…"
Suddenly, Momo felt drained. She leaned against the wall, and then slid down to the floor, drawing her legs under her body. In the following silence, Todoroki took a few steps forward, until he was only a few feet away, and then, after only a brief pause, sat down in one fluid motion on the patch of floor in front of her. He looked at her expectantly. She could feel it on her skin. But she said nothing more.
"Why are you embarrassed?"
Momo sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that day, raising her eyes to the tiled ceiling above them. She chewed her bottom lip, wondering how exactly to go about saying the root of it all was because she felt she cared too much. That wasn't even something she herself fully understood, let alone trying to explain it to someone else.
"The other day, when I went to your house, I-"
She paused suddenly as he raised his hand, signaling for her to stop talking. "Stop. There's two things I want to say about that. First, I'm sorry for my behavior. I was still angry, and-"
"I knew it!" she said, and he blinked at her. She tried suppressing her flush. "Sorry, carry on."
His brows furrowed, but he obliged. "And because of that, you had to endure my eldest brother, which leads me to the second point – he's a complete asshole. Complete trash of a person and anything he said to you, I want you to delete from your memory."
Momo was thrown by how viciously Todoroki went on about his brother. She had never known him to show animosity to anyone, especially so colorfully, and she was quite speechless.
"Oh…" was all she said. Still, a small part, deep down, flickered in joy that he didn't associate with…that man. To be honest, she had been quite thrown, and doubts about Todoroki Shoto as a character had started to corrupt her thoughts. But if what he was saying was true, then anything that man had said could be discarded. And by everything… "But some of the things he said made sense."
"They probably did," he agreed, to her surprise. A dark shadow had passed over his eyes, and even though he was still looking at her, it was like he was miles away. "It's what he does best. He eats the subconscious, digs out your deepest fears…" His eyes were back in focus. "That's why you have to forget any of that ever happened."
Momo paused. "…But what if-"
"Forget it."
"But-"
"Yaoyorozu." The light in his eyes was piercing, and they bored into hers. "Forget it."
Mutely, she nodded. For a moment she recalled everything, sitting in that grand house, in the middle of that aesthetic room, in front of that demon of a man, feeling suffocated and weak. And then she remembered how Shoto had come later, after the damage was done, and she remembered how he had barely glanced her way…
"You have something else to say."
Todoroki said it as a statement, and her head snapped up. Her right hand rubbed up and down, from her shoulder down to her elbow, not entirely sure how to bring it up. Although she knew if she didn't get a straight answer, she'd always have that doubt lying in the back of her mind.
But again, Todoroki seemed to see exactly what she was thinking, and she wondered when he had gotten so good at reading her. "You ask whatever it is you have to, and in return, I ask something as well. And then we close the matter for good. Sound fair?"
Momo offered him a small grin. "Yeah."
Todoroki then motioned for her to continue. Her eyes dropped to watch as she pulled at a stray string sticking out of the end of her sleeve, unable to look at him as she talked. "I came all the way to apologize that day. I knew you were mad but…" the volume of her voice dropped with each word, and she moved her fidgety hands from the top of her knees into her lap, curling up into herself even more. "You could have at least heard me out." Her voice was almost nonexistent as she ended.
He sighed. "Enma blindsided me – my brother," he clarified at her confused stare. "I couldn't do anything to give him even an inkling of what was happening. If you knew him like I did, you'd understand. I don't have a better explanation."
Momo felt herself nod. He was right; that wasn't satisfying enough for her to forgive him entirely. But he continued. "Did you not receive my message yesterday?"
"No," she shot him a confused look. "I've had my phone off for the exams." She hadn't checked her phone for at least a few days; it was standard procedure before any exam. Any calls she had to make were made through landline. "I have it with me now, only because Kyoka said she didn't want to wait alone, but we arrived at the same time and I haven't checked it yet. Should I go get it? It's in my bag-"
He huffed at her sudden torrent of explanations and pulled out his phone, holding it up for her to read. He'd sent her a message yesterday evening.
'Forget anything my brother said to you.
Talk later.
Tonight, just focus on the exam.'
Momo felt her eyebrows rise above widened eyes. The intensity of her ego hit her. Todoroki had been angry too - that much was obvious. But he'd instantly thrown that aside for the sake of giving her peace of mind; as soon as the issue had grown bigger than just the two of them, he stopped. He was the bigger person, and it hit her that she had so much more to grow as a person.
For what felt like the first time that day, Momo looked him dead in the eyes.
"I'm sorry."
The casual way he waved her off made her want to smile. She'd missed him more than she had even realized.
"My question now." Momo could have rolled her eyes. He almost sounded excited. "You told me you didn't want to teach, and yet you taught an entire class hardly a day later. Why did you lie?" Yeesh. He didn't cushion that blow in the slightest. "Did I do something wrong?"
"What? No, not at all." She sighed. "That's why I came over to your house; to explain. You need to understand something. Todoroki, you're intelligent." His eyes flashed at the praise, though the rest of his face remained impassive. "Frustratingly so, especially for someone like me who studies many times more than you. And for you to understand everything so quickly, with hardly any help at all from me – it made me feel… inferior."
"That's ridiculous," he snorted.
"Maybe. But that's what it felt like." There was a pause. "It's so much easier teaching people who actually need your help, you know?"
There was a silence where he mulled over her words. "So basically," he said finally. "You'd have rather I feigned stupidity and actually use up your time than understand things instantly and leave you alone."
"Exactly!"
He gave her that incredulous look again, and for a moment, Momo felt a flush of embarrassment cloud her face. Before he could say anything though, to her relief, the door swung open.
"So, everything sorted?"
The pair looked up to see a beaming Kaminari, flashing a thousand watt grin in their direction. Momo noticed Todoroki's face instantly wipe clear, and a part of her swelled in pride at the knowledge that she was the only one he let his guard drop around.
"Shove aside, Sparkles." It was Momo's turn to facepalm as her friend elbowed past the blond to enter the room. "Of course everything worke- what did you guys do?!" Her voice gained a high pitch shriek as she scanned the room, seeing the still-frozen trail of ice and the knocked over closet with a hole blasted through the roof.
"You little punk!" The little girl stomped over to the only one who could be responsible for the damage. "This is going to come out of my pay!"
Todoroki blinked coolly back at her. "It was your idea."
Jiro visibly seethed, her fists shaking at her sides. Not really understanding how Todoroki was involved but sensing the danger of the rapidly deteriorating situation, Momo quickly walked over and placed a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Kyoka, you're forgetting," she pointed at herself once her friend had snapped her glowering eyes in her direction. "Quirk of creation?"
As Jiro's eyes widened in glorious realization, Todoroki stood up, dusting himself off lightly. "I'll see you later then," he said to no one in particular, and began walking out the door.
"Just a second dude, we're having a barbecue for dinner, just us peeps of 1A. Why not stay for that?" Kaminari asked with a friendly smile.
"Why? Do you have no one else to light the fire?" Jiro burst out laughing at Todoroki's response. Momo just rolled her eyes, waiting for the boys to leave so she could get to creating the larger-than-her-usual-creation object, knowing that the half-n-half hero was being perfectly sincere in his confusion.
"No, man, 'course we can light the fire! C'mon dude, you didn't even take a swim around the pool."
"Oh," Todoroki seemed to realize there was no malice behind the blonde's offer. "Thanks for the offer, but I need to be getting home. This was just a detour."
Jiro leaned over towards the taller girl. "That means the only reason he came here at all was to talk to you," she murmured teasingly, but Momo wasn't listening, remembering a sudden discrepancy in his words. He said he had talked to his mother just before coming here, and yet only now he was on his way home?
Todoroki left after a final nod to Kaminari.
"Kyoka, I'll be right back-" But before she could take a step, the bob cut girl grabbed her arm.
"Oh no you don't. You clean up this mess, or I'll be getting you to pay for all this."
"But-"
Kyoka's glare cut off anything she was going to say.
'It actually wasn't that bad, considering Kaminari made it using two-year-old coal.'
'The picture doesn't match the description.'
'You're just jealous because you missed it.'
'Hardly.'
It was later in the evening, and Momo was currently on the bus home.
While waiting for the barbecue to cook, Momo had gone to her phone to check her history. Sure enough, Todoroki's message lay on the top, a large, glaringly obvious 'unread' mark lighting it up. She'd been staring at it guiltily when Kyoka had snuck up on her from behind and plucked it straight out of her hands.
"Why the hell is his number saved as 'Shoto'?!" She asked, cackling rather loudly.
Momo felt a heavy blush burn at her cheeks. "I don't know, that's how he saved it!" she cried, swiping wildly in an attempt to grab her phone, but hit air. "Give it back!"
Kyoka nimbly avoided her. "And you were fine with it?" she laughed loudly. "So you just went around texting him, while staring longingly-"
The flush was now permanently ingrained on her skin, she was sure, as she began giving chase to her irritating friend. "I haven't texted him properly! Ever!"
"Well time to fix that." Kyoka lifted the phone, running backwards. "Dear Shoto,"
"Kyouka-"
"I miss youu~ Wish you were here~ xoxoxo- WOAH!" Kyoka's spree of terror was effectively ended as Kaminari picked her up, easily throwing her over his shoulder. Momo doubled over, catching her breath. There resulted in a little squabble between the two, and Momo swore she almost had a heart attack at one point as the two teetered dangerously close to the pool edge. However, instead of pounding the blond to a pulp as one would expect, Kyoka instead leaned in to whisper something in his ear.
There was a silence where Momo swore she could feel impending doom, but before she had a chance to ask, both had begun snickering with each other and then, after shooting Momo knowing smirks, they proceeded to take picture after picture of everything in sight. Momo had sighed, letting them have their seemingly harmless fun, and it wasn't until well after everyone had eaten, lounged about in the pool for a while longer and headed home that her phone vibrated and she finally saw that the two nosy meddlers had been sending the photos to Todoroki.
The pictures had mostly been random blurry shots of everyone – mostly food – but Todoroki had selectively ignored them, something Momo was eternally grateful for, choosing only to comment on the very last one; a rather wonky shot of the slightly burnt pieces of chicken Kaminari, Kirishima and Sero had been slaving over.
'I think the chlorine has caused you to forget what quality food looks like.
Allow me to refresh your memory.'
Todoroki then proceeded to send over an image of a modestly large dining table lined with rows upon rows of concentric rings of what had to be around 50 different flavors of sushi, each one looking more lavish and extravagant than the last. It took Momo a good two minutes of studying the picture, feeling hungry despite having a full stomach of food, before she realized he was probably expecting a reply.
'Please don't tell me you made these?' If Todoroki could cook on top of everything else…
'No, definitely not.' Momo breathed a sigh of relief. Her heart couldn't take it if his arsenal of talents grew any larger. Her phone buzzed as he elaborated.
'My sister made them.
She's trying to persuade my father to sponsor her for her new gourmet menu.
He's been refusing, so she's been making such dishes for almost a week now to try and convince him she's worth it.'
Momo wondered what that must be like, trying to persuade a father like Endeavor to pursue a profession that wasn't heroism. From the little she had been exposed to, she was certain it was more than frowned upon in the Todoroki household. Suddenly, she realized Fuyumi had more courage than anyone probably gave her credit for.
'She's pretty brave.'
'I think she's lost her mind.'
She grinned lightly at his message, getting up as the bus stopped, her cue to get off. Once she had safely donned the sidewalk and was on the walk home, she pulled out her phone as it buzzed again.
'Nee-chan's asking how it looks.'
Momo smiled, a strange warmth flooding her heart. There was a certain intimacy in texting someone, she realized. It was like she was there. She could imagine him, homely little Shoto, helping out his only sister, leaning up against the counter, while holding small, peaceful snippets of conversation in between replying to her.
'Tell her it looks incredible. 5/5'
A pause. Then, 'She's glad.' Momo smiled, wondering how Fuyumi felt at having her baby brother talking to a girl.
'How does Kaminari feel about his petty attempt now?'
Why he brought up the blond now was strange to her, and so she asked him.
'I'm assuming it was him who sent it. Jiro was my other guess, but she's in the bbq pic.
It obviously wasn't you – the angles were all wrong for that, not to mention you simply aren't the type.
Plus there was too much Jiro.'
His message stunned her. Once she had gotten over the fact that Todoroki had assumed it was Kaminari based on the fact that there was a lot of Kyoka (something she hadn't even realized, too worried about her own swimsuit clad images) and what that meant, she proceeded to thank the stars above for his intelligence, and somehow figuring out that embarrassing tirade hadn't been her.
'I'm almost home, so Kaminari's not around.'
'Shame.'
Her friend's name reminded her of something however. 'Todoroki, why did you save your first name on my phone?'
'Oh, did I?...' he didn't reply for a while, and she wondered if she'd embarrassed him. She mentally snorted at the idea. 'Makes sense. I usually do that. I don't want my father's name to be my identity.
I didn't choose Todoroki as my hero name either.'
Momo remembered that; using his first name had been somewhat of a controversial topic in their class for a while. It was so rare that someone flaunt their identity so openly, although he clearly didn't mind. Even his costume didn't bother masking him in the slightest. Although some may think of it as arrogant (as if he were so strong, so infallible, it didn't matter if the world knew exactly who he was), and while that may partially be the case, Momo felt there was a deeper psychology underlying these two facts, not the least of which that it was a cry for the world to see him as his own person.
Todoroki was such a break from the norm. Something as personal as a first name was for him more of a symbol of who he was as a person rather than a gesture of intimacy. It almost made her think that he barely saw himself as it was, and anybody using his first name was more a victory in somebody having noticed him at all, rather than a person being close.
'So would you prefer people calling you Shoto in real life?
Just say the word…'
'It doesn't bother me'
She frowned, wondering just how much he was keeping pent up inside.
'If you hate that name, you should tell people.
It's your right to have people call you what you want.'
'I don't hate it, Yaoyorozu, I simply don't care.
I'm used to it.
I probably wouldn't even notice if you started using Shoto.
It's just how I write things down on paper.
When you write something down, it feels more permanent. When they look me up, I want my name to be there, not my father's.
That's all there is to it.'
Momo processed this, wondering if she should let it go. 'It really isn't too much of an issue.'
'No, it's not.
But think of it this way; would you want to call me Shoto?
Or is Todoroki simpler?'
Momo almost instantly replied she'd call him Shoto, but realized he probably wanted sincerity. He'd probably be able to tell whether or not she was telling the truth anyway - hell he probably already knew what her answer would be.
'Well, I guess I'm used to Todoroki…'
'That's all there is to it.'
She frowned in thought, opening the front door, having finally reached home. Was this okay? She wondered if she should push it any more, but any response was cut across as she stepped through the foyer of the house.
"Momo, why were you out so late?"
Her mother. Momo sighed, mood immediately dropping as she pocketed her phone. Shoto would have to take a backseat for a few. "I told you, Kyoka held a pool party."
"You said you'd be back by 6. It's now 8."
"She's home now though, Satomi."
Momo blinked in amazement. Seeing her father standing in the kitchen was such a rare sight, and he looked so out of place, sitting on her usual spot by the basket of fruit on the kitchen island. Her mother rounded on him, and he immediately sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose under his glasses, looking older than his years. "You do not get to have any input. This is the first time in years you've probably even seen her walk in through the front door."
Another fight. This had become a regular occurrence, but the ache of her heart stung just as bad each time. One or two arguments every now and then was normal; healthy even. But the rate at which they'd been going at each other was alarming. Her mother was beginning to sound obsessive, almost slightly deranged, and she had to commend her father's patience, for Momo didn't have it.
Momo walked past, hoping to somehow get away from this unscathed.
"Momo." Her mother had followed her out into the hallway. "Your father said you told him to get you chocolates."
"What?"
"I knew it," her mother snapped, immediately whipping around to lash out at her husband, who had now shot Momo a look of utter helplessness, like she'd stabbed him in the back.
"Sweetheart," it was almost as if he was cajoling her, and Momo wanted to yell at him to stop. Her mother practically lived off of it. "Remember in the lab-"
"Don't you force ideas when they don't exist!"
"No, no, I remember," Momo quickly stepped in, not able to handle it when her defenseless father was so clearly out of his depth. "It was just such a random question... I did tell him; I said whenever he's next out-"
"What?!" Her mother's exclamation had her reeling back as she rounded on Momo, eyes livid. "Have you no sense of thought? You just gave him a permanent ticket, Momo! He can now claim he was out for your ridiculous sweet tooth! When he's actually having a rendezvous with some flounce."
"Satomi!" her father stood tall, and Momo wondered if she was right in thinking he was so out of his depth. "Do not involve our daughter in your petty fears."
"Hah! I have never heard such hypocrisy! You're the coward who had to use her as an excuse!"
"It wasn't an excuse-!"
"Stop it!" Momo found herself yelling, and both adults turned to her. She felt herself tremble, although her eyes remained dry. "Enough. Every day it's the same story. If you've had enough of each other, fine! Deal with it like adults, instead of bickering like children. I don't want to hear it!"
"Momo-"
"Nothing! Either make up, or don't. But don't involve me."
"Momo-"
"Goodnight."
And she left with a whip of her hair.
It was only after slamming her door shut and leaning against it did the energy suddenly leave her entirely. Sound returned to her ears. The thud of her heart seemed incredibly loud, the thrill of each beat physically palpable against her rib cage. And then, as the rush of blood stemmed from her ears, she realized what she'd just said. Had she sentenced the end of this family with her own lips? Perhaps her harsh words would help them wake up? Like ripping off a band-aid, the painful way was the way to do it.
Then she remembered the phone in her pocket, and her half-finished conversation with Todoroki. She stared at the black lock screen, mind at a complete blank as to what to do. She was curiously numb just then. Instead of feeling like the world had fallen apart, she felt absolutely nothing. In fact, she felt just fine.
Swallowing thickly, she switched her phone back on.
'Weird.'
My parents are fighting.'
He didn't reply immediately. He was probably wondering if she had lost her mind in the fifteen minutes she had grown quiet for. Or maybe he'd just left.
'Inside the house.'
'…as opposed to outside?'
Momo almost laughed at Todoroki's response.
'My dad has a lab outside.
He doesn't really ever come into the house.'
'So what makes today special? He couldn't have come just to start a fight.'
'Apparently he bought me chocolates. Probably wanted to hand-deliver them.'
'…for being a phenomenal daughter?'
Momo rolled her eyes, drawing her knees up and rested her chin on them, still leaning up against the door. She didn't want to move. The only thing she felt like doing just then was mindlessly talk to the boy on the other side of the screen.
'Although that's definitely a good enough reason; no.
Remember how you told me to confront him? Last time they fought?'
'Yeah…'
'Apparently he'd gone out to buy chocolates, to satisfy a craving.'
'?'
Todoroki's confusion was understandable. She'd barely told him anything at all about what had happened. Perhaps she could delve a little deeper…
'My father rarely leaves the office right?
So when he left that day, my mother was worried.
But it turns out he'd only gone to get chocolates.'
'Hmm'
'So I told him to buy me some next time.'
'Let me guess. Your mother wasn't too happy with either of you when she found out.'
Momo blinked at the screen.
'Nail on the head'
'I think I got the gist of what it is that's going on.
Yaoyorozu, while I assure you this will remain between us, I don't think this is a topic you should be discussing with non-family members.'
Momo felt her heart drop and simultaneously race. What did this mean; had he figured it out? When all she'd talk about were chocolates? Maybe he misunderstood? Regardless, he had basically told her he didn't want to listen to her problems. Perhaps this wasn't the sort of thing one discussed with people? Was she complaining too much? Was she overreacting?
'You're not a burden, Yaoyorozu.' His response hit home, and she swallowed with some difficulty against the growing knot in her throat. 'You can trust me, and I'm willing to help. Family ordeals can be…difficult, to say the least.
I'm just saying to be careful. Even with me.
You can never be too careful.'
He was trying to be nice. He'd probably sensed that she was doubting herself, and wanted to calm her down. The damage was done though. She had crossed a line she probably shouldn't have, and now she was double thinking everything.
It had been a few minutes, and he had hadn't said anything else. She'd probably scared him off with her silence. Momo knocked her head back against the wood of the door, relishing in the light thuds against her growing headache. If only she could stay like this forever, with the sounds of the world dulled, cocooned in her own thoughts…
Her phone buzzed dully in her hand. She reluctantly checked her screen, expecting some sort of selfless consolation message from him. It wasn't.
'Can you see Tipocah district from your window?' She didn't feel like replying to him, but he continued anyway.
'If so, look at the skies above it.'
Curious despite her fatigue, Momo pushed herself off the ground and walked over to the window, drawing open one of the silky curtains. She had to open the pane of glass and lean over the ledge, but she saw it.
In the far distance, glittering in the dark skies, were fireworks. Though miles away, the small exploding rings were still beautiful. Momo allowed the curtain to fall shut behind her, blocking out the light of her room. She sat up on the ledge, leaning her head against the cold metal of the frame, relishing in the chill of the summer night. She watched, transfixed, as the sparks shot in the sky like a shooting star aiming for the moon, only to burst and fall back to earth in a million pieces of sparkling dust, each time imagining those were her problems, exploding into nothing.
The display had long ended before she realized she was gazing at a once again calm, silent sky. She slowly lifted her phone again.
'Was that your doing?'
'The fireworks? While I appreciate the thought that I'd go to such lengths, no, I had nothing to do with them.'
She managed a wry smile. 'Well, thanks. For letting me know about them. They were pretty'
There was a silence, where Momo just sat, staring out mindlessly at the night view, the thousands of lights sending up a dull glow, giving the sky a blue sheen. The numbness only grew as the cold air hit her face, and she wondered what life could possibly throw at her from here on out. Then, her phone buzzed again. She chose to ignore it, but as it lit up, again and again, she finally gave in. It was probably Mina, with the speed at which the texts were coming in.
To her surprise, it was still Todoroki.
'The situation with your parents will pass.
It may seem like it never will, and you probably want to fix it, but you can't.
Coming to the realization that you can't do anything at all is probably the hardest part.'
Momo blinked at the incoming messages.
'My suggestion; learn from their mistakes. Make sure you never become a person who can cause that much grief to anyone, let alone your family. We're all human, and mistakes are inevitable. But we have to learn to try.'
His words were raw, and blunt, with the heartbreaking anguish only brought through personal experience. And there was a harsh wisdom to it, but it would take a while for her to come to terms with what that meant. What she couldn't understand was why Todoroki was still there, still bothering to help, and why he was telling her this in the first place.
'Why…'
She hesitated, unable to figure out the words to use, and then she sent it, as is. She stared at the screen, the digital light brightening up her face behind the gloom of her curtain. And she tried again.
'Why are you still here? Helping me? Telling me all this?'
His response came instantly.
'Because you would do the same.'
That stunned her. She didn't know where he had gotten that idea from. In fact, she had been sure he only felt the opposite, especially with how she'd blown him off the past week. Momo had been anything and everything one could be except considerate. And she told him as such.
'All that means is that you help without even knowing you're helping.'
She didn't understand what he was talking about.
'Just accept that someone is helping you, Yaoyorozu.
No doubting yourself, no wondering why, no thinking that anyone has some ulterior motive.
Just know that you deserve it.'
Momo was effectively at a loss for words. And for someone like her, whose secondary quirk could have basically been verbal diarrhea, this was a first. Although he tended to leave her at a loss like this, and it was happening more and more. She still didn't understand him though. The way he was taking his time, the way he was making sure she understood… it reminded her of Kyoka.
And then it hit her. And like a bell, the aftereffects resonated.
'Todoroki?'
'?'
'Are we…' she sent this, paused, then continued the thought. 'Friends?'
'-_-
Obviously.'
Her heart shot up to lodge itself in her throat, pounding so loud her ears throbbed.
'Yaoyorozu?'
'Yes?'
'Never ask that again.'
She laughed.
And for the first time since the start of that awful week, Momo finally believed that things would actually turn out okay.
A/N: Yikes that was a long chapter! I really don't know if the length I've been going at is a good thing guys - I would have split this chapter down, but it ruins the whole 13 chapter limitation I have going for myself, plus, I needed somewhere to put in this final family scene...(it's probably the last of that though :P)
I'd really love to hear everyone's thoughts - did you like the first half, second half, both. Aizawa's bit was incredibly fun to write as well. I'm strangely nervous about this one (it's dialogue heavy, that's probably why), and hearing from you guys just soothes my soul like nothing else can! Thanks for reading guys, and until next time!
